Math Rock/Jazz, progressive and contemporary as a trio! St. Barbe, manage to mix it up and come out the other side as a shoal sticks together; as on this new EP release, 'Shoal'.
The mixed genre world of jazz and rock, particulary math rock evolved from old jazzers in prog-rock bands, King Crimson, Colosseum etc so by the time you've got the extremes of The Mars Volta and Kneebody, who knows what Math Rock is? Luckily, guitarist James Maltby, and synth programming by him and drummer Floyer Sydenham, this EP the music moves from the raw and unfiltered hues of Julian Lage and Bill Frisell-inspired ballad ‘Dorothy’ (a track that's previously been 'Track of the Week' on Jazz FM), through to the ferocious, riff-led floor fillers ‘Pinch’ and ‘Shoal’.
'Pinch' features corto.alto (Mercury Prize nominees who were at the We Out There Festival a couple of years ago) sound more 'Freak Zone' and the closest thing to 'rock' is the opener 'Tierra'.
All the usual suspects will be supporting this one like Jazz on 3, BBC Radio 6's Deb Grant, Stuart Macione and Gilles Peterson (Note: at the time of writting, 2 out of 3 as it's only a matter of time in GPs case), Jazz FM and more plus the adventurous DJ jazz dance types; like fans of the Kneebody/Daedelus project, 'Kneedelus': now, that'd be a remix!
Don't forget this is a shoal the sticks together and sounds together.
BUY LINK / PRE-ORDER: Shoal | St. Barbe
Artist: St. Barbe
Title: Shoal EP
Release date: 18th February, 2026
Label : Bridge The Gap
Catalog Number : TBC
Format: Dgital / Bandcamp
